Fonte: Our fortunes will turn

José Fonte is confident Southampton’s fortunes will soon turn, but has also stressed the importance of taking care of their home matches.

Saints face two games at St Mary’s this week, with the UEFA Europa League clash against Sparta Praha being followed by the Premier League contest against Swansea City, on Sunday.

Claude Puel’s side are without a win in their opening four games of the campaign, but Fonte believes that does not tell the whole story.

"I've found it that we were a bit unlucky, to be honest,” he told Southampton’s official YouTube channel.

“The first game against Watford, I thought we should have – we could have – easily won the game, then away at Man United, again, we were in the game, we were competing with a team that spent so many millions on so many great players and we were quite comfortable to be honest.

"But, again, we didn't manage to get the points, unfortunately.

“Then, at home against Sunderland, I thought we definitely deserved more than what we got, then Arsenal we all know what happened there, but it's football and you need to move on and look forward to the next games, because everything will balance itself out.

“Some decisions go against you, some go for you and we just need to focus on the next few games and try to maximise those.

"Wins give you confidence, wins give you belief in each other, and that's what we are looking for – to get that first win, so we can kick on and go on a great run.”

While the start of the Europa League campaign stirs up memories of last season’s disappointment in Midtjylland, when Saints were knocked out at the play-off stage, Fonte assessed that contest and said it was not the trip to Denmark that really cost them, but the 1-1 draw at home.

He says that is a lesson that should be carried into this season’s competition.

"I don't think the problem was away at Midtjylland,” he said. “At home we should have buried the game, we should have won 4-0 or 4-1, then that would have given us much more confidence and breathing space to go and play at Midtjylland, but the problem was at home I think.

"In every competition, home form is very important. You need to win your home games, because when you play at home it's always easier, so we need to make sure we maximise our points at home.”